Lynna Irby is working out on a track with the world’s top woman in the 400 meters. She had dinner Wednesday with the world’s top male sprinter.

Welcome to the pros, kid.

The 12-time state champion from Pike High School said April 4 she was leaving college to turn pro. On Thursday, she announced she has signed a contract with Adidas and joined PURE Athletics, a track club in Clermont, Fla.

Terms were undisclosed, and shoe contracts vary widely in the sport. Almost all include incentives for medals, world rankings, national teams and time goals.

Lynna Irby of Georgia reacts after winning the women's 400m in a meet record 49.80 during the NCAA Track and Field championships at Hayward Field in 2018.(Photo: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

Irby, 20, has relocated to Clermont and will be coached by Lance Brauman. He also coaches the Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo, 25, defending Olympic gold medalist in the 400, and U.S. champion Noah Lyles, 21, who is considered heir apparent to Usain Bolt.

She is represented by Chris Layne of Total Sports, an agency based in Johnson City, Tenn.

In an exclusive interview with IndyStar, the Indianapolis sprinter explained why she left the University of Georgia in the middle of her sophomore season. There are World Championships in 2019 and 2021, plus the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

“These next three years are very crucial, especially with my career and my development,” Irby said. “I don’t want to have to live with any regrets.”

Pike sprinter Lynna Irby won the 100m, 200m and 400m four years straight at the IHSAA Girls State Track meet.
Matt Kryger / IndyStar

She could have gone pro last June after winning the NCAA 400 meters in 49.80 seconds on a cold, rainy day at Eugene, Ore. Irby was just .09 off the collegiate record and ranked No. 5 in the world for all of 2018. She was third in the 200 but did not race the rest of the year.

Irby won the Southeastern Conference indoor 400 in 52.02 this year but was fifth in the NCAAs. Her times have been slower than those from 2018. She said “there was definitely a plan” at Georgia for her to peak later in 2019.

Coach Petros Kyprianou publicly backed Irby’s decision, and she said Georgia did indeed support her. She said she has arranged to finish this semester’s classes remotely. She helped Georgia win its first NCAA women’s team title in indoor track last year.

“It was definitely bittersweet,” Irby said.

She said she did not regret returning to college, saying she liked being on a team and that “it really put things in perspective” about things she had taken for granted. She is especially grateful to have support of her family.

“I knew there would be questions. ‘Why is she doing this?’“ Irby said. “Just creating stories for me.”

Pike High School track star Lynna Irby is passionate about race, culture, politics. "I'm American, I'm black, I'm a female, I'm just fast because I'm me." Irby competes in her last IHSAA state track and field tournament June 3, 2017.
Jenna Watson/IndyStar

Her former Pike coach, Olympic heptathlete DeDee Nathan, and Indiana Storm club coach, Michael Vinson, sent workouts while she was in limbo. Irby said Brauman told her workouts would resemble meets because pros have fewer races than college athletes.

“I can tell we’re going to get along well,” she said.

She is heading next week to the U.S. Olympic training center at Colorado Springs, Colo., for an evaluation. Her pro debut and meet schedule have not yet been determined.

“We just want to make sure I’m going to be running fast before I think about it,” she said.

The USA Championships are later than usual (July 25-28) because the worlds are not until Sept. 28-Oct. 6 at Doha, Qatar. Oddly, Irby has never run in a senior nationals. She won silver medals in the 400 at the under-18 youth worlds in 2015 and U20 junior worlds in 2016.